116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Adaptive clothing creator hopes to inspire others in EntreFest return
An attendee in 2019, Erica Cole has grown an international brand and returns as a keynote at June conference
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
When Erica Cole attended EntreFEST in 2019 with other student entrepreneurs from the University of Iowa, she was still adjusting to a life-altering change. Just a year earlier, she had lost her leg in a car accident.
Struggling to find clothing that fit over her prosthetic, she started altering her own clothes — and soon began doing the same for other amputees. What began as a few custom alterations and a modest Etsy shop quickly revealed a major gap in the fashion world.
“I was going to class in, like, sweatpants — three sizes too large — because nothing else would fit over the top,” Cole recalled. “I was cutting off the leg of my pants, just trying to find something I could wear. Everything else was a challenge at that time as well. It was just one more thing I had to think about.”
That simple yet powerful idea — fashion that works for everybody — would become the foundation for No Limbits, an adaptive apparel company focused not only on function, but on style. At a time when the adaptive clothing space was largely tied to the health care industry, Cole saw an opportunity to bring personality and accessibility back into the conversation.
“It was an interesting space to enter as a business,” she said. “It had really been owned by the medical community for a long time.”
Cole's early entrepreneurial journey included participating in the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center’s Hawkeye Summer Accelerator — an experience that brought her to EntreFEST for the first time in 2019. At the time, No Limbits was little more than a promising side project on Etsy.
But by 2022, she had taken that vision national. After launching with a successful Kickstarter, Cole appeared on the Shark Tank television series — an opportunity she nearly declined, unsure if her young company was ready.
The experience was nerve-wracking, but unforgettable. “I remember Mark [Cuban] got up to have a conversation with Emma [Grede], and in my head, I was like, keep selling, keep selling,” Cole recalled. “But I also thought, Mark is so bored with this, he’s not even paying attention — he’s just chatting with Emma! So I just kept going as best as I could. And then Emma made the proposal of a deal to go in with Mark.”
That deal was an investment of $100,000 for 10% equity in her company. Once Shark Tank aired, No Limbits became one of the most recognized names in adaptive fashion, acquiring Buck & Buck, one of the oldest adaptive apparel companies.
No Limbits, based in Richmond, Va., not only serves amputees, but has expanded to people with a wide range of dressing needs, including those with limited dexterity, sensory processing disorders, and wheelchair users.
And in 2025, Erica Cole will return to EntreFEST — not as an early entrepreneur, but as a keynote speaker. Cole noted it as a full-circle moment.
She hopes to inspire other early-stage entrepreneurs by sharing her journey and emphasizing the value of finding community, building momentum, and saying yes — even when you’re not sure you’re ready.
“The most valuable people you can connect with as an entrepreneur are people who are building at the same time in the same environment, as you.”
EntreFEST returns to Cedar Rapids June 12-13, 2025. Tickets are on sale at EntreFEST.com.
Daily Newsletters